A Glance under the Magnifying Glass
Being out of touch with our finances for so long, we're getting back to the barebone basics. First finding out where we stand overall. Honestly, we are about the point of living paycheck to paycheck before my actual raise kicks into high gear. My wonderful wife is doing a beautiful job at home with our little one who will be turning 1 soon! Our baby has come a long way since she was first born. Obviously the finances are strained a little bit with another mouth to feed but seeing as shes going to be done with formula (the biggest cost) and going to milk, that will definately help. But not everything is her, her stuff is cheap compared to what we've got.Here is the breakdown of where our money is going every month-
68% - Primary Mortgage/ Rental Mortgage/ Insurance/ Taxes/ HOA
13% - Groceries/ Household
10% - Electric/ Gas/ Water
8% - Cellphone/ Internet/ TV
1% - Home Security
Needless to say, because I've been strapped having a lower paying job these past few months and her being at home, the percentages may look high in some catagories; primarily the "Home" catagory. This will eventually be lowered once my pay increases and she returns to work later this year. Notice that also we have not allocated anything in the budget for our savings. In months in '05 and '06, almost 60% or more went towards reducing debt and savings. Seeing this as a VITAL part of our financial plan and future, I'm determined to add Savings back into our budgeting routine.
In the upcoming days, I would like to go over in detail each of the aforementioned catagories to see how we are using that money and "trim the fat" from each. Overall, there is a sense of frustration that we haven't really moved anywhere networth wise, however we are still surviving and absolutely determined to get back on the board.**
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